The Press Box.

Gordon Losing His Crew Chief

Jeff Gordon is losing the only crew chief he has had in his Winston Cup career.

CNN-SI reported Friday that Ray Evernham is quitting after helping Gordon win three championships in the last four seasons.

The network said Evernham will act as crew chief for this weekend's MBNA Gold 400, but mechanic Brian Whitesell will make the race-day calls. Whitesell will replace Evernham when he leaves, perhaps before the end of the season.

Evernham and John Hendrick, head of Hendrick Motorsports, had no comment when asked about the report Friday at Dover Downs International Speedway. The company plans an announcement next month concerning Gordon's team.

- Rusty Wallace won his fourth pole of the season, and the second straight, for Sunday's MBNA Gold 400 at Dover Downs with a track-record run of 159.964 m.p.h.

- Defending MBNA Gold 200 champion Matt Kenseth won the second pole of his NASCAR Busch series career with a record-setting qualifying effort of 155.293 m.p.h. at Dover Downs.